Holloway enjoys day out at Palace

New Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway watched from the stands as his in-form side stretched their unbeaten run to 11 games in their 2-0 win over Blackburn, who were being managed by Henning Berg for the first time.

Holloway left Blackpool to assume the role left vacant by Dougie Freedman's departure from Selhurst Park, and he will have been impressed with what he saw as Glenn Murray's double - the second from the spot - moved Palace up to third in the npower Championship table.

Blackpool began life without Holloway with a heavy 4-1 defeat at Derby. Theo Robinson bagged a brace for the home side with John Brayford and Conor Sammon also on target, while a Tom Ince penalty was the only response the visitors could muster.

Mick McCarthy, by contrast, inspired lowly Ipswich to their first win in 13 attempts as they saw off an abject Birmingham side 1-0 in a largely lacklustre encounter at St Andrew's.

McCarthy only took the reins at Town on Thursday morning but his impact has been instant, with DJ Campbell, who enjoyed 18 months at Birmingham, scoring the only goal of the game after eight minutes.

Leicester slipped out of the promotion spots after they suffered a 2-1 defeat at Watford. The Foxes fell behind in the 14th minute when Watford's on-loan midfielder Almen Abdi clinically netted his fourth goal of the season.

Fernando Forestieri made it two and although David Nugent pulled one back, Leicester could not find a decisive equaliser and their afternoon was compounded when Zak Whitbread was sent off.

They were leapfrogged by Middlesbrough, who came back from a goal down to thump Charlton 4-1 for their fifth successive Championship victory. Hull moved into the top six courtesy of a 1-0 win over Barnsley - with Sone Aluko's 16th-minute strike earning in-form Tigers their fourth win in five matches.

They trumped Nottingham Forest and Wolves in the table, both of whom were beaten on Saturday. Millwall extended their unbeaten run to seven league matches with a 4-1 win at Forest, while Sean Dyche's reign as Burnley manager got off to a fine start with a 2-0 success over Wolves.

Goals from Ross Barkley and Miguel Llera helped Sheffield Wednesday to their first home win since August as they claimed a 2-1 win over Peterborough, who pulled one back through George Boyd, while Sean Scannell's first-half goal gave Huddersfield a 1-0 win over Bristol City.